In the Hospital: Rumors & Gossip

[Wake88, BSN, RN]

I work in a sub-acute hospital that specializes in traumatic brain injuries.

One of the major problems with this facility is the persistent spreading of rumors and gossip and drama among co-workers, from aides and nurses.

People have gotten fired over it, or taken off Day shift and put on Nights, and vice-versa.

Continuously I see and hear this kind of example: Co-worker A says nice things to Co-Worker B and then, when B leaves, A starts saying and spreading crap about B to other co-workers. It's practically assumed that people do this, and it sucks.

I'm at the point where I keep my guard up and let the factions rip one another apart. I want to stay out of it because I don't want my livelihood jeopardized. But even when you do your damndest to stay away from it some find ways to rope you in against your will.

For example, last week I was accused of using my left hand to slam a 300lb bed with 250lb pt into a coworker. Things got ugly. The witness there with us knew my accuser was nuts. Accuser went to charge nurse, sobbing, saying that I deliberately pushed bed into her for God knows why. Lo and behold everything was on video monitoring. You could feel a change in your surrounding in that the accuser was spreading the lie to co-workers, and some were dumb enough to actually believe it. I went to Director of Nursing with written statement detailing everything that happened. The patient in that bed was A&Ox3, caught me off guard when he told me I didn't deserve being talked badly by others like that, and said he would be happy to speak with DON because he saw the whole thing too.

DON told me the following work-day that I did nothing wrong, that he didn't know why she was coming up with that crap, and on my suggestion he's adding into our 'Monthly Minutes' (email-pamphlet for all to read) that malicious gossip and unfounded accusations are not to be tolerated. It sucks when you are accused of something you didn't do and incredibly difficult to defend yourself against it.

On a frequent basis there's drama and infighting and rumors being spread. The atmosphere is so bad it's like I can't trust sharing personal information with anyone unless they're really close co-workers. We just had another drama ****-storm a few weeks ago that ended with a night charge nurse being fired because she'd go out to her car during her shift for 5 hours and sleep, leaving he pts without tube feeding, and the CNA that brought it to light being reamed by vicious hostility by said charge nurses's friends, causing the aide to move to day shift.

I've got a pretty good handle on this, but I feel like additional information and words of wisdom would be incredibly helpful. It's tough enough working a heavy 12-hour shift and I have zero time or tolerance for drama and other crap like that that distracts me from putting all of my focus on my patients' well-being. Another aide remarked that she feels like she's walking on eggshells because of how easy it is in our facility for stupid, pointless drama to happen, not to mention vicious rumors and lies that destroy reputations. It's even gotten on to FB at times and management has had to come down hard on it. Even the charge nurses can't be trusted to remain impartial.

What I do is stay in contact with A) the Director of Nursing and B) the head of Human Resources. DON wants me to keep him informed as does HR, but HR wants me to document each and every instance in order to have a working history of what has been transpiring.

I just need better ways to protect myself, because I need this full-time job, especially with full-time nursing school happening this autumn.

[TriciaJ, RN]

A workplace like the one you described is always a function of weak leadership. Asking a staff person to document everything everyone else does is putting you in a bad position. Especially if management doesn't act on your findings and you just end up being targeted for retaliation.

The issue with your false accusation being put into the "Monthly Minutes" is typical of how weak management works. Rather than decisively dealing with the miscreants and drama queens, they send out blanket memos and edicts, aimed at everyone, which no one takes seriously. And nothing changes.

Since it doesn't seem real feasible for you to change jobs, can you find any like-minded individuals at work? If management and HR are aware, do they not know how to deal with these issues? Are there people with whom you can brainstorm for ways to address the crap as it happens?

Sounds really toxic. Good luck to you.

[Wake88, BSN, RN]

A workplace like the one you described is always a function of weak leadership. Asking a staff person to document everything everyone else does is putting you in a bad position. Especially if management doesn't act on your findings and you just end up being targeted for retaliation.

The issue with your false accusation being put into the "Monthly Minutes" is typical of how weak management works. Rather than decisively dealing with the miscreants and drama queens, they send out blanket memos and edicts, aimed at everyone, which no one takes seriously. And nothing changes.

Since it doesn't seem real feasible for you to change jobs, can you find any like-minded individuals at work? If management and HR are aware, do they not know how to deal with these issues? Are there people with whom you can brainstorm for ways to address the crap as it happens?

Sounds really toxic. Good luck to you.

I see.

It's bad enough that for the longest time HR didn't do much if anything. Just very recently now are they starting to do anything (the MMs), which isn't much but a start. Maybe I should ask the DON why he is a weak man. Lol, I kid.

There are some people who are becoming more aware of this. When other CNAs get treated like garbage I tell them to go and speak with the appropriate authorities, yet few of them do. I take no ****. Here's an example:

Halfway through my 12-hour shift on the more-acute med-surg floor I stopped by the counter of the nurse's station to catch my breath and collect my thoughts. One RN known for being an ******* snidely said to me in front of other people: "Could you stop wasting everyone's time by standing around and doing nothing all day?"

I was livid.

At that moment I did not care who else was in the immediate vicinity.

With a calm and tempered tongue I let her know right then and there that what she said was rude, unprofessional, and will not ever be tolerated. Her shadow's eyes were bulging.

I spoke with the DON after that and he agreed that it was ********, and he spoke with some of the witnesses. He told me that he will speak to her, and that it is not OK for her to talk to anyone that way. Afterwards, knowing that the charge nurse (a level below DON) would likely not attempt to be impartial, I let her know anyways what had transpired. I didn't do it thinking she would do anything, but to exactingly gauge just how biased she was. She told me to wait after shift to talk about it, made me wait an hour after that, snapped at me to tell her what was said when I came in, sighed when I said so, and didn't seem to give a darn. They're also tight friends on Facebook, so you can only imagine.

Figured it was smart to cut to the chase and bring this to someone who would actually do something about it. I hate it when charge nurses pick their favorites, and my God I do see it over the months.

The advice that was given to me was to have a strong spine and call it out whenever it happens, document the incident, write them up, keep witnesses on hand to sign, and stay in close contact with HR and the DON because unlike the charges they can actually be relied on to not play favorites. I could use more ideas to better protect myself.

[TriciaJ, RN]

If you Google "Toxic Workplaces" a whole bunch of stuff comes up: books, seminars, etc. Might be something useful.

As far as charge nurses having Facebook friends, this is a really bad idea. There's a reason many workplaces don't like having supervisors being friends with subordinates. For one thing, subordinates start thinking their "friendship" entitles them to special privileges which just pulls the supervisor down and undermines their authority. Some friends.

Since a toxic work environment is a function of poor leadership, your upper management should be starting to change the culture with middle management. They should be having meetings about favoritism, professional conduct, progressive discipline, etc. They should not be asking lower level employees to be their watchdogs, unless they plan to address the issues directly.

Keep us posted.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

I wouldn't share personal social media with anyone from work. Period. I wouldn't share any personal stories/information with people at work. Period.

No tolerance is no tolerance. Anyone who participates in this bru-ha-ha when on the clock gets written up each and every time. 3 write ups and see ya later....

Your parent company should have information on their website in what to do for a hostile work environment, and who it is reported to on a corporate level.

Your manager's thought process is to put it in the newsletter. BUT it needs to be specifically spelled out as to what the consequences of the non-tolerated actions will be. The better thought would be to pull the policy, everyone has to read it and sign they understand it. Then it needs to be consistently enforced.

It is all fine, well and good to SAY that behaviors such as the ones you describe OP will not be tolerated. But fact is, they ARE tolerated, and seem to be escalating.

"Have you heard...." "No, I have not heard, don't want to hear, and I need to go medicate patients."

Oh, and as a bit of an aside, I am sure your co-worker who blamed you for "purposely" hitting her with a bed was looking for more action from you personally as opposed to "just" the workman's comp which will turn into disability thing I would bet the farm she is now seeking. You can set your clock by it.....non-existent light duty, a few times coming in complaining about their limitations and injury then bang, long term disability/workman's comp....

Poop runs downhill. It starts with the people who are in the position to change things. And if the people at the top want you to start "reporting" to them, they should make you a charge nurse. or even an employee relation nurse, pay you accordingly--otherwise, it could just be even more of a mess for you.

[SmilingBluEyes]

I'd get out. You can't change toxic workplaces by staying and playing nice.

[quazar]

I honestly have no good advice except to leave if you can. I have worked in toxic environments like that, and I left as quickly as I possibly could. Places like that will give you an ulcer and disrupted sleep and make you hate your job. Not worth it, IMO.

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

I have worked on a unit like that. Our new manager brought in the EAP people in coach about hostility. The mean employees finally moved on when we stopped put up with their nastiness.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

I would update my resume and find a new employer. This environment is toxic and the last thing you need to be worrying about if you are going to be going to school FT in a few months. Find someplace that is more equipped for offering a normal work environment and not the next set of guests for an upcoming Jerry Springer episode....accusations of attacking each other via patient beds loaded with obese patients as ammo....yeah, I know employment opportunities are hard to find in some areas but this is overkill.

[Wake88, BSN, RN]

At the moment things have calmed down. Nothing has happened regarding the coworker who accused me, but still keeping a finger on that pulse. Before this incident that same CNA dragged me into drama four months prior and of course the charge nurse sided with her without reason. My plan is to A) update my resume and B) stay the hell away from that particular CNA. I feel like just being near her she's going to start drama by accusing me of something. Staying in touch with other CNAs and seeing if I can switch shifts in order to avoid being around the drama-starter.

One more day of work on Monday and then I'm off up to 6 weeks due to knee surgery. Thank god for insurance...

After I heal up I'll become event stricter (more careful) around people to protect myself and my future. Some of my coworkers are awesome and others either start drama directly or, more insidiously, start it behind your back.

[BeenThere2012, ASN, RN]

A workplace like the one you described is always a function of weak leadership. Asking a staff person to document everything everyone else does is putting you in a bad position. Especially if management doesn't act on your findings and you just end up being targeted for retaliation.

The issue with your false accusation being put into the "Monthly Minutes" is typical of how weak management works. Rather than decisively dealing with the miscreants and drama queens, they send out blanket memos and edicts, aimed at everyone, which no one takes seriously. And nothing changes.

Since it doesn't seem real feasible for you to change jobs, can you find any like-minded individuals at work? If management and HR are aware, do they not know how to deal with these issues? Are there people with whom you can brainstorm for ways to address the crap as it happens?

Sounds really toxic. Good luck to you.

Regarding blanket memos..FULLY agree. The ones who are the problem either never think it applied to them or just ignore. The ones who care and try to do the right thing, feel like they are being criticized.

Blanket memos should not be used in place of directly dealing with a problem...whether it is an individual, a group, or a culture issue.